The Diplomatic Mission
(Inactive)

War is imminent, a war that will rock the nation. The Kingdom of Amular has always had poor relations with the Talfor Regime but recent events have only magnified the problems. A tipped lance at the last multi-national tournament. The son of the king of Amular missing. A break-in at the Talfor treasury. Both kingdoms are blaming each other, and it’s about to break out in full scale conflict. The king of Amular has one last hope. He doesn’t want war, no one does, so he is sending a diplomatic mission to Talfor to see if things can be resolved peacefully. However, he doesn’t have much hope. You each represent a part of the Kingdom, the military, the church, and the mages college. The King has also asked for the help of one body guard, and an… “Insurance Policy”, if it is needed. Prepare yourselves, because the fate of Amular rests on your shoulders.

This is a homebrew adventure. It is set in the world of Golarian, however the two kingdoms are on a new continent, with their own culture and history (There will be a map when it starts). A lot of this will be worked out during the adventure, so if there is something particular you want in your backstory, feel free to add it (just don’t go crazy with it please). Generally speaking, Amular is neutral good, and Talfor is Lawful neutral. However recent events show that things may be changing.

What I am looking for:

I want to focus more on roleplaying and less on combat, however there will still be combat so don't dump all combat stats. I can tailor encounters to the strength of the party, so don’t feel like you need to optimize one way or another in your character build. That being said, builds that focus more on interaction and less on combat will probably help more in this campaign. I’m looking for strong character backgrounds and a well thought out personality. Presentation is everything here, as I want to see you have a good writing style that is fun and enjoyable. I will also check your history to see if you have other PBPs you been in, and see if you do well at roleplaying. If you have no prior experience, I will not hold that against you, so those that are new don’t be afraid to apply.

Creation Rules:

All classes, races, books ect. will be allowed. I use d20pfsrd.com as my reference book, so if it’s on there, I’m willing to use it. The two exceptions to this rule is: NO GUNS ALLOWED AND NO PSIONICS. They are not something I want to deal with. Also, I am open to 3rd party materials, however most 3rd party races are really weird, so you better have a good explanation. No evil alignments, unless you can explain why you would want to try and prevent war, and why you would be chosen.

Since this is a diplomatic mission, and to make class choices easier, Diplomacy and Sense motive will be class skills for everyone, along with an extra 2 skill points per level.

This is what I’m looking for in classes:

One body guard His focus will be more on combat, and making sure to keep others alive He could also be the one to focus on intimidate, for those time when reasoning just doesn’t work.

One ambassador from the military If possible, a combat focus class that has high charisma and interaction skills. Cavalier works pretty well, paladin would also be fine, and the third party Warlord would be excellent to fill this role. However, since everyone will have diplomacy and sense motive, almost any combat role could fill this.

One ambassador from the church This ambassador represents the national church. You can choose the deity (use standard pathfinder deities), but they must be Lawful Neutral, Lawful Good, or Neutral Good. Divine caster is what I’m looking for here. Specializing into healing is not needed as much, so don’t feel like you have to be a cleric. Paladin would work here though he fills more the combat role. Inquisitor may also work here. I could also work with ambassadors from two different churches; say if a paladin wanted to fill the role of the military ambassador, but also wants to be an ambassador from a different church than the national one.

One ambassador from the mages college. The nation hosts its own mages college, similar to the Acanamirium. Need an arcane caster for this spot. A sorcerer will work well with their high charisma. Wizard that focuses on knowledge would be an excellent fill. Bards definitely work great as diplomats.

One “Insurance Policy” Things don’t always go right, and sometimes the non-legal way can save lives in the end. This is the role where “The end justifies the means”. I’m looking for skills in this role. A rogue spy, a ninja that focuses on infiltration, feel free to break the norm of the party. Just remember, the point of this mission is to stop war. If you end up causing it, you will definitely fail.

You each represent a leading member in your respective area, except maybe the “insurance policy”. You were chosen by your respective area to represent the nation in this mission. The start of the adventure will be everyone meeting at the capital of the Kingdom of Amular, Auga Ignis (Eye of Fire), to meet the other members of the party and be given final details.

That is 5 spots to fill. This isn’t all set in stone, and good backstory and writing can cause me to break from this. I will try and give feedback on everyone that submits.

Breakdown for Crunch:

25 pt buy (So that you don’t have to make as many compromises by choosing high mental scores, but try to avoid an 18 before racial modifiers)
Level 5 (So that you can have more of your build fleshed out)
Max hit points at first level, pathfinder society’s rules for leveling (Half max hp + 1)
Max starting gold + 10500 for being at level 5. (Don’t spend more than half your money on a single magic item)
2 traits
If there is a trait or feat that is specific to a region or such, it can be assumed there is a comparable way to include it in this new nation, figure out how to work it in.

Submission is open until Wednesday 11/15 at midnight Pacific Standard Time, or until I get 20 submissions, whichever comes first.

This is quite interesting. I'm currently in the recruitment phase for two other PbPs, but dotting this one just in case. I've got a build or two that I've been wanting to try and I think would work with what you've described.

Also quite interested, especially in the "insurance policy" role... Hehehe. I'll see if I can't draft up a nasty backup knife-in-the-dark type guy. I assume you want someone who can serve well in the diplomacy department, but when things come to it, he can also sneak poison into the lord's drink/set fire to a key fort/stabbity-stabbity/etc.?

@Loup those things, or maybe a good bluff, a document containing "Proof", you get the idea. I'm sure there will be many submissions, and much competition, so don't feel like you need to switch unless you want to.

@rashly5 Spy works, and don't forget that eventually there's the prestige Master Spy. Take starting wealth same as rogue

NEW INFO
This is not a human dominant world. Yes, there is more humans than other races, at least when it comes to cities. However, the countries aren't racist, and they won't care if your human or dwarf (other than of course the fact no one seems to appreciate a good beard)

Good languages to have are elven and dwarven, though any of the languages of the core races will be useful.

@entropy priest is a good choice, armiger seems pretty powerful, but I can work with it if needed.

NEW INFO
The current kings are human, however they have advisers from the different races. Elves are highly respected in the political department from their many years of experience and their ability to look at things abstractly. Both Talfor and Amular's top advisor is an elf
Talfor has a large mountain region, where most the dwarves in this continent live, and is a major driver of Talfor's economy. Thus Talfor has a high up dwarven advisors.
Amular has a large population of gnomes, that were driven out by the dwarves some time ago. They ended up starting an engineering school that is almost as famous as the Schola Scientiae (the name of the mages college). Many dwarves grudgingly go to the school because it is the best for engineering. Thus, Amular has a head engineer gnome.

Are there any notable human noble families? I've drafted my character's background to have served/come from a large noble family. That is to say, his family has served as spies/retainers for that family for a long time.

In line with this, I'd also like to ask if having the Noble Born campaign trait is possible. What benefit I get is entirely up to you.

Also asking if the "Insurance Policy" gig might be masquerading as another (perhaps minor) ambassador. Such as a 'merchant representative' that would look after civilian interests. Of course, this might actually be somewhat true as my character's cover before he was called upon was a rather influential merchant affiliated with the noble family he serves. (Perhaps the noble family is one oriented with trade?) So anyone who checks would meet a solid cover and background.

Just tossing some ideas.

What's the weather/geography of the regions like? Cold? Tropical? Deserts and plains?

Feel free to write out a noble family and what their role is in the kingdom, and I will figure out a suitable benefit for the trait.

The "Insurance Policy" is to take care of any unforeseen problems that may come up. However you want to work that is fine, though some type of a cover story may be a good idea.

NEW WORLD INFO
Weather/geography: It has a wide array of different terrains and climates. Their is no Tundra in the continent, so the only extremely harsh cold conditions would be on mountains. I haven't gotten to much into that part though.

Throwing in some crunch on an unnamed Ratfolk Ninja who I'm designing for being some sort of super spy: emphasis on controlling a situation through bluffs, bribes, gathering information, and poisons. Probably will be CN with a very clear, driven goal of preventing this war (so that he is never compromising the party's interest :P) but I'll work on a backstory and finishing the crunch later tomorrow.

Stats:

Unnamed, Ratfolk Ninja 5
Init: +4, Senses: Perception +11
Languages (3): Common, Ratfolk, Elven, Dwarven, Halfling, Deity: ???
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=====================DEFENSE=====================
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AC 15, Touch 15, Flat-footed 11, CMD 17
HP 34 (5d8+5 favored class)
Fort: +1, Ref: +8, Will: +2
Spell Resistance: NA
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=====================OFFENSE=====================
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Speed: 20ft (4 Squares)
Melee: Daggers
Ranged: Daggers
Space: 5 ft. Reach: 5 ft.
Base Atk: +3, CMB: +2
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====================STATISTICS====================
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Abilities: Str 10 (+0), Dex 18 (+4), Con 10 (+0), Int 12 (+1), Wis 13 (+1), Cha 16 (+3)
Feats (3): Weapon Finesse, Quick Draw, ???
Ninja Tricks (2): Vanishing Trick, Sudden Disguise
Skills (55): +12 Acrobatics (5 ranks), +5 Appraise (1 rank), +11 Bluff (5 ranks), +11 Diplomacy (5 ranks), +11 Craft (alchemy) (5 ranks), +12 Disable Device (5 ranks), +9 Disguise (3 ranks), +9 Escape Artist (2 ranks), +5 Knowledge (local) (1 rank), +5 Knowledge (nobility) (1 rank), +6 Linguistics (2 ranks), +11 Perception (5 ranks), +16 Stealth (5 ranks), +12 Sleight of Hand + (5 ranks), +13 Use Magic Device (5 ranks).
Class Skills: The ninja’s class skills are Acrobatics (Dex), Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft(Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disable Device (Dex), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Intimidate(Cha), Knowledge (local) (Int), Knowledge (nobility) (Int), Linguistics (Int), Perception (Wis), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Stealth (Dex), Swim (Str), and Use Magic Device (Cha).
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=================SPECIAL ABILITIES=================
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Trait: Resilient: Growing up in a poor neighborhood or in the unforgiving wilds often forced you to subsist on food and water from doubtful sources. You’ve built up your mettle as a result. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Fortitude saves.
Trait: Dangerously Curious: You have always been intrigued by magic, possibly because you were the child of a magician or priest. You often snuck into your parent’s laboratory or shrine to tinker with spell components and magic devices, and often caused quite a bit of damage and headaches for your parent as a result. You gain a +1 bonus on Use Magic Device checks, and Use Magic Device is always a class skill for you.
Small: Ratfolk are Small and thus gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty on combat maneuver checks and to their CMD, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.
Speed (Slow): Ratfolk have a base speed of 20 ft.
Tinker: Ratfolk gain a +2 racial bonus on Craft (alchemy), Perception, and Use Magic Device checks.
Rodent Empathy: Ratfolk gain a +4 racial bonus on Handle Animal checks made to influence rodents.
Swarming: Ratfolk are used to living and fighting communally, and are adept at swarming foes for their own gain and their foes' detriment. Up to two ratfolk can share the same square at the same time. If two ratfolk in the same square attack the same foe, they are considered to be flanking that foe as if they were in two opposite squares.
Darkvision: Ratfolk can see perfectly in the dark up to 60 feet.
Poison Use: At 1st level, a ninja is trained in the use of poison and cannot accidentally poison herself when applying poison to a weapon.
Sneak Attack: The ninja’s attacks deal extra damage anytime her target would be denied a Dexterity bonus to AC (whether the target actually has a Dexterity bonus or not), or when the ninja flanks her target. This extra damage is 1d6 at 1st level, and increases by 1d6 every two ninja levels thereafter. Bonus damage from sneak attacks is precision damage. Should the ninja score a critical hit with a sneak attack, this precision damage is not multiplied. Ranged attacks count as sneak attacks only if the target is within 30 feet.
Ki Pool (5): At 2nd level, a ninja gains a pool of ki points, supernatural energy she can use to accomplish amazing feats. The number of points in the ninja’s ki pool is equal to 1/2 her ninja level + her Charisma modifier. As long as she has at least 1 point in her ki pool, she treats any Acrobatics skill check made to jump as if she had a running start. At 10th level, she also reduces the DC of Acrobatics skill checks made to jump by 1/2 (although she still cannot move farther than her speed allows).
By spending 1 point from her ki pool, a ninja can make one additional attack at her highest attack bonus, but she can do so only when making a full attack. In addition, she can spend 1 point to increase her speed by 20 feet for 1 round. Finally, a ninja can spend 1 point from her ki pool to give herself a +4 insight bonus on Stealth checks for 1 round. Each of these powers is activated as a swift action. A ninja can gain additional powers that consume points from her ki pool by selecting certain ninja tricks.
The ki pool is replenished each morning after 8 hours of rest or meditation; these hours do not need to be consecutive. If the ninja possesses levels in another class that grants points to a ki pool, ninja levels stack with the levels of that class to determine the total number of ki points in the combined pool, but only one ability score modifier is added to the total. The choice of which score to use is made when the second class ability is gained, and once made, the choice is set. The ninja can now use ki points from this pool to power the abilities of every class she possesses that grants a ki pool.
No Trace: At 3rd level, a ninja learns to cover her tracks, remain hidden, and conceal her presence. The DC to track a ninja using the Survival skill increases by +1. In addition, her training gives her a +1 insight bonus on Disguise skill checks and on opposed Stealth checks whenever she is stationary and does not take any action for at least 1 round. Every three levels thereafter, the increase to Survival DCs and the bonuses on Disguise and opposed Stealth checks increase by 1.
Uncanny Dodge: Starting at 4th level, a ninja can react to danger before her senses would normally allow her to do so. She cannot be caught flat-footed, nor does she lose her Dexterity bonus to AC if the attacker is invisible. She still loses her Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized. A ninja with this ability can still lose her Dexterity bonus to AC if an opponent successfully uses the feint action against her.

hehe, so many questions, so little time:
What are your feelings on 'homebrew' magic items? I know that there are spells that are an obvious no (like an amulet that gave you constant true strike), but I was looking at a few spells that peaked my interest, The two in particular are lead blades and gravity bow.

Introducing Yix, middle aged catfolk bard and representative of the mage's guild. originally built for a very roleplaying heavy game that never got off the ground

edit: Yes he's level one, however he already is a 25 point buy. tomorrow i'll update his level and items due to increased wealth. i'd love feedback on the idea though. he's kind of a calming father figure

True strike doesn't get priced as a first level spell, it gets priced as a +20 weapon enhancement, which is disgustingly expensive.

Similarly, both of those spells should be priced not as the level of the spell, but on the effect. They both give an increase in dice damage as if having a larger size. I would consider requiring that an enchantment be on the weapon itself, and priced as a weapon bonus, probably +2 or +3 since it is effectively bane against all.

Since no one seems to have called the military ambassador position, I'd like to throw my hat into the ring. I'm thinking either a paladin or an urban barbarian. (Although the Whirlwind Attack Lore Warden build comes together at this level, and a ranger could have a +4 to Bluff and Sense Motive vs humans...) No matter what class I pick, he's likely to be a bit of a fop.

Feats- Extra Lay Hands on
Will update to level 5 if selected for campaign. For equipment etc.

Can be used to fill variety of positions since diplomacy will be used.

Unnamed.... has always lived a carefree life with elves living with harmony in nature, rules were not as valued as so and so thought they should have been. Upon reaching adult hood so and so left his brothers and sisters to pursue an existence thought meaningful. A paladin was most desired and so the mantle of paladin was achieved in order to bring law, order, and goodness to all no matter the cost.

So and so isn't easily intimidated and doesn't enjoy talking with people who don't have the general welfare of others in mind. With a non-impressive wisdom score so and so sometimes is rash to decisions and quick to yelling with decent charisma. As time went on so and so found his way to working as an ambassador for the church/military. As LG he could fill either.
Hope to be picked.

NEW CAMPAIGN INFO
Crafting Homebrew Items: If it is not on the pregenerated list of magic items, you, or another PC controlled character, will have to craft it yourself. You can't craft your starting items, so as far as this first adventure goes, you won't be able to craft homebrew items because time is of the essence. At a later time it may be useful, if this group sticks around that long, though I'd suggest someone taking leadership at 7th level, getting a wizard cohort and giving him all the crafting feats.

You can post your character info here, or make an alias. You can just link to your alias if you want, that way you can delete him/her if you don't make it.

NEW WORLD INFO
The continent the kingdoms are on looks generally like asia, though no where near as big. The size is roughly equal to California, Iraq, or Sweden (which ever sizing you understand better). They each take a half of the continent.

Ok, you have a good base for a background there. Let's see if we can flesh that out a bit. Is there a reason why he feels rules should be valued more? What brought him to wanting to be a paladin, and was there any struggles he had adjusting to the new life style? He's going to be level 5, so he's had some adventure and experience, what has he gone through recently that's shaped his life? Also, you need to pick 2 traits. If you're not sure what they here check here: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/traits. That should help you flesh out your background.

Your build looks good, though 10 con may be a bit rough, but not much can be done with that since you're an elf. You could offset that by picking up toughness at some point.

Looks like the back story needs to be rewritten a bit to fit your role at the Schola Scientiae (mages college). However the concept seems cool, I have this image in my mind of this old cat cuddling up with me.
If you keep the history the same where you started out in sort of an underworld, I'd like see a good transition between seedy underbelly and a father figure in the College.

Build looks strong, though I'll have to see the later levels to get a better idea. Also, drop your starting charisma a bit. I'd prefer your starting charisma wasn't higher than 16, then +2 racial, +1 age, then you can get your +1 level to have 20.

Dot, going to submit Buron. I think that this game is right up his ally, after all he is the perfect diplomat (read as liar,)

Urrmph, Buron is a spinner of yarns, a lover of ladies, and a Hero loved by all. Keep those scandalous lips sealed player. Least I decide to squash you!

Yikes I better level him and stat him up quick like. This guy is liable to mistake me for a chair.

He will probably go as the Insurance Policy, but I reserve the right to change that. By the time Buron is level 5 the build I have selected for him has two levels of Fighter, but he is very religous. Well if you count drinking and boasting religous in the eyes of the Cayden Cailean. Swords are play toys to men such as Buron, he uses his bulk.

I'll have a scary bodyguard pitched to you momentarily. Also, since you're checking references, take note that my flagship alias (Ganit) is a troubled soul in troubled times so please be kind. Cassian, however, is a brighter person.

dotting :) I have my work cut out for me cause I see Edward and a handful of others I recognize as putting forth characters that I know will be great :)

Gonna make a Samurai, most likely either Human or Half-Orc. Probably gonna fill the "bodyguard" role and most likely his Order will be wither Lion (cavalier) or Warrior (samurai). Crunch to come later :)

He has been in the navy for 20 years and has risen up the ranks serving on board different vessels, acquiring acclaim breaking up a pirate threat in the Eastern waters by infiltrating their midst and was able to gather a great deal of intelligence regarding the different pirates in those waters and has a good deal of contacts in the ports on both sides of the border.

He is also adept at disguise, with his tall gait and elvan physique he is able to imitate both elves and humans easily. This is due to his rounded ears which he received after a hard night with the rum of his privateer crew. He knows how to turn on the charm and has been hand picked by the admiralty for this task because he is suave sophisticated and knows how to get the job done.

NEW WORLD INFO
I tried to explain the map a bit, but I guess I didn't do very well. I also retract my earlier statement about no tundra, there is a section of it on the continent, however you will not have to deal with it. This is all a work in progress, so please bear with me as some of the worlds details may change.

The Kingdom of Amular is red, and the Talfor Regime is blue. You will also notice a yellow and green. These are two other undefined kingdoms at this point, that probably won't make an appearance in this adventure. There was strong trade between between Amular and the two other kingdoms, however it was suddenly stopped by an embargo from the other two kingdoms. No one is sure why.

Yes the map was made in Civ 4. Take the terrains you see on the map for a grain of salt, they will be changing.

Total Map Area: ~650,000 square miles
Total Land Area: ~280,000 square miles (43% land)
Total Land Under Kingdom of Amular and Talfor Regime: ~176,000 square miles

"Come in and know me better man!" I feel embodies what your character is. He's had a tough past, but he got through it and presents a cheerful face. It doesn't look like the character has been tailored to this adventure yet so not to much input I can give. I'm curious how he wasn't able to escape the two other times he tried, yet the third time it seems he got out with no problem. Looks like I could work the professors death into the story line, that should be some fun. Let me know when you finish with him.

@ Insnare:

Interesting concept. Definitely something I hadn't thought of. Maybe we will have to have a sea battle if you make it in. Go ahead and expand the back story. How did she get into the navy? What was her first experiences with pirates? What drove her to advance so much within the navy?

Crunch looks solid. Would you plan on taking more ranger levels in the future?

I do not need the full description of abilities in the crunch. It actually makes it difficult to read. Put a short one sentence summary of what it does, and I can look it up if I need more info.

@ Yix:

First, discrepancy on your perception, one says +6, other says +16, I'm going to assume its the +16. I believe the attack bonuses for your weapons should be +5. For your special abilities, either bold the titles of the abilities, or cut them shorter, I'm finding it hard to distinguish between them. Otherwise your crunch looks good. You can switch your spells once the party gets in place if you want.

Ok, background ties in now. I'd still like to see it expanded more (like how your traits fit into your character), but it is not a requirement. I see some good ways to get your character... "invested" into the story line. Character Complete.

@ Gilthanis:

It looks like you spent 27 points on your ability scores? For your special abilities, either bold the titles of the abilities, or cut them shorter, I'm finding it hard to distinguish between them. Otherwise crunch looks good so far.

I can see how you would easily be chosen for the body guard role. Hoping to see in background what life was like growing up that way. Also, in what ways has he distinguished himself above others to be chosen for this role?

Let me know when the rest is done, then I can give you more feed back.

You were exposed to a potent source of positive energy as a child, perhaps by being born under the right cosmic sign, or maybe because one of your parents was a gifted healer.
Benefit: As a standard action, you may automatically stabilize a dying creature merely by touching it.

Law Enforcer

If you follow this code, you are always alert to those who transgress against the laws of civilization.

Benefits: You receive a +2 bonus on Sense Motive checks to gain a hunch from social situations, and begin play with a pair of masterwork manacles.

The unnamed paladin was born into a family where the mother was a talented cleric granting the sacred touch power.

Being a faithful paladin he always has manacles to detain offenders of the law and good with the hopes that instead of killing them, redemption is possible. With that in mind he also has been lied to many times in his travel and has caught on to an easy trick to detect liars. This has granted him the law enforcer trait.

Feats- Toughness
Will update to level 5 if selected for campaign. For equipment etc.

Can be used to fill variety of positions since diplomacy will be used.

Unnamed.... has always lived a carefree life with elves living with harmony in nature, rules were not as valued as so and so thought they should have been. Upon reaching adult hood so and so left his brothers and sisters to pursue a meaningful existence. The paladin future was most desired and so the mantle of paladin was achieved in order to bring law, order, and goodness to all no matter the cost.

Striving towards Law brought shame upon the unnamed man, but his quest for law and good persuaded him not to care. Dishonored by his family he abandoned the notion that they were his family and that his family are the ones at his side, fighting evil and the chaos that dwells in many people.

So and so isn't easily intimidated and doesn't enjoy talking with people who don't have the general welfare of others in mind. With a non-impressive wisdom score so and so sometimes is rash to decisions and quick to yelling with decent charisma. As time went on so and so found his way to working as an ambassador for the church/military. As LG he could fill either.

I see that you're critiquing as we go so here's a link to my Work In-Process Character Sheet for Alton Mace. I'm shooting for the Bodyguard position and I'm working with an LE alignment, which is a pretty bid deal for me. I don't see it as permission to be a self-interested a$$**** but rather the kind of person who indiscriminately follows orders (shamelessly channeling Sandor Clegan for this guy). Basically, he's a guard for hire. This weeks patron could be next week's victim if circumstance favored it.

Let me know how everything looks. I'm certainly interested in a role play heavy campaign.

@Wofguy - Doing pretty much a full rewrite on Buron. His backstory as written is to dry and blocky. I am using what I have as an outline as that is really what it is at this point. I may or may not get it done in time.

I will be sure to add a tie into your game as best I can. The part about his Professor was a tie into an AP PbP I applied for but didn't get in. It will likely not be apart of the final piece. Though for purposes of leveling it may not be a bad place to start.

Ultimately, I think my character would like to gain the abilities of the master spy. But one or two more levels in ranger(freebooter) would definitely fit up to that point.

Hinstulkin born to an elven father and human mother, had been brought up in Amularhaven(I just made up a name but of course it can be whatever you like), the land's largest port. His father had been known to be a merchant leader from afar and spends his travels far from Amular. He learned a lot of his more underhanded skills growing up on the docks(such as gambling, slight of hand techniques and so on) between going to one of the finer schools in the city(his mother's family an older disenfranchised noble family), where he picked up languages and how to comport one's self in high society.

Then one day he received news that his father had been lost at sea, six months later there were rumors of his capture by the Talfor Regime, none of which were verified.

But upon becoming old enough for service, the call of the sea and maybe rescuing his father propelled him to take a commission as an ensign in the navy. Late one night on his first assignment on the Tamylrande, a war galley, Ensign Kraymar was dicing with his fellow crew mates while drinking rum with them, he had adopted the slang and jargon of the men and the captain of the ship, a Captain Neji Thimblestone, was inspecting the ship and at first heard the authentic rough speak coming from the ensign and was aghast. The next morning, she called Kraymar to her cabin and offered him the job in intelligence.

After a lengthy training period, learning the ins and outs of tradecraft and the like. He was tasked with the infiltration of the pirate broods in the eastern islands. Dumping the uniform for a set of merchant's clothes, he signed on as a crew member of the sloop Jasper's Tyranny. He loved the plunder the women and the freedom and moved up the ranks. By this point, Kap'n Jasper had accrued a sizeable buccaneer fleet, one late night Kraymar challenged the captain of the ship to a duel and ran him through in three quick strokes.

Through dead drops and encoded messages by pigeon, he had been authorized to use his new pirate fleet to clandestinely attack the enemies of Amular, on the one hand eliminating the pirate threat to Amular and give the country a step up in international shipping, this lasted for five years.

A typhoon ravaged his privateer fleet and he was able to pilot his flagship after losing its main mast into Amularhaven, where he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander. Between then and now, Kraymar has infiltrated the Talfor regime on many occasions performing operations in various disguises. Due to his somewhat androgynous looks, he was able to disguise himself as a Countess Kendra Kalenina for a week, who he had met on an earlier mission.

For his career's sake, his most recent assignment has been to the general staff of the admiralty with another promotion and he would be serving as the naval attache for the diplomatic mission. Obviously, he would have some intelligence gathering objectives as well, in the case that war breaks out....

I've updated the profile with proper perception and attack bonuses. Also I have updated the background to tie into the traits (it's around the end). Finally, I have just left the name of the abilities. My main reason was bards have SO many abilities, it's even hard for me to keep track of everything, and on top of that I had an archetype and a non-typical race (oh and i'm assuming you are ok with the race since you didn't say anything negative about it). If there's every a discrepincy in game IF i get picked, i can easily post a link to the ability so you don't have to spend your time looking it up. Hope this helps, anything else I should be looking to improve?

If you are going to be making long posts, try to put it in a spoiler, makes it nice for everyone. If you don't know how to do that, at the bottom of your reply, under submit post, it says "How to format your text". Click on show, and it will show you how to do a spoiler.

I understand people not wanting to spend the time to upgrade their characters to level 5. However it makes it hard for me to approve the build if you don't. I don't need details on the equipment other than magic items you may want to buy. Mainly I want a feel of where they are progressing, and what they their exact strength and weaknesses are (feats and skills).

If you want some ideas of what I'm looking for in a background, check out my other aliases. They definitely don't have to be as long as Gnomey's. Essentially what I'm looking for, is a background that reads like a story, or something else that's creative. Also, a section on personality would be good, mainly so that you will know how to have your character act once things get going.

We are currently at 21 people that have either dotted or have submitted something. If you still want to get into this, I suggest you hurry, before I get 20 approved characters.

@ gilthanis:

Ok, that looks right, you had your wisdom at 14 so that put it off by 2 points.

@ Alzar:

Yeah, thats some good starting HP, and you'll still be able to take extra lay on hands with your other feats. Crunch is good for level 1.

Background is looking better. I like the law enforcer trait, I want to see you arrest someone if you get in the group. Try and figure out a name, I know that can be hard. Otherwise things look good. Let me know when you have a name figured out.

@ johnny:

Never seen/read game of thrones.

Unfortunatly, I'll have to turn down the LE alignment, because someone already asked, and this was my response. "The only role that I might let be evil is the "Insurance Policy", but even then, it doesn't look good to send an evil person when trying to negotiate for peace. He would have to have a good back story, and have a personality to be able to gain the trust of his companions and the kingdom." I think you could probably switch him over to lawful neutral. "A lawful neutral character acts as law, tradition, or a personal code directs her. Order and organization are paramount" You swear allegiance to whoever you currently work for, and no one else, whether they be good or evil.

If you make the alignment switch and flesh out the back story a bit more, what got him into body guarding and such, I think you'll be good. I like it.

As far as crunch goes, it looks good, nice damage dealer. Perception is not a class skill, so that will drop by 3.

@ Kraymar:

Amazing. That's all I need to say. Get your crunch into the alias and I'll give you the seal of completion.

@ Yix:

I understand wanting to have the details up there. I'd suggest throwing them in a word document or some such. I won't really need links, I'll be able to find the abilities easy enough (unless you want to, and I wont' complain). I give you the seal of completion.

@ Big om:

I'll let you buy the scrolls you want to inscribe, then roll on here for the spell craft checks. Go head and build your character, and let me know which spells you are wanting to inscribe. Once I approve your build, you can roll the checks.

@Wofguy - I'm working up an elf duelist as the military embassador - not a super charismatic, but with high Int. I would play him as something along the lines of the Grey Ajah in the Wheel of Time books, if that's a useful reference.

I would like to go primarily Lore Warden to start, using all the Int-based skills, particularly a deep knowledge of history and culture, to enable him to seek diplomatic solutions based on historical precedent and the wisdom of the ages. Would focus on analyzing the problem and finding a solution pleasing, or at least tolerable, to all, rather than winning people over with honeyed words and charm.

He's always had an intellectual bent to him, and having served several years in the largely human military administration of Amular, he's had to demonstrate his ability as a mediator as well as his skill with a blade.

A couple of questions:

1) Does this sound like it fits your vision?
2) I'd like to use a rapier, but would love to have Dervish Dance available - there are various schools of thought as to whether this is appropriate - what's your take on this?